Katie
by KennedyRox992
Summary: Katie is Riley's little niece, whom he spoils rotten every chance he gets. This is the story of one weekend where Riley is left in charge of Katie when her parents go on a business trip. R/R.
1. Jungle Girl

AN: This takes place before Riley meets Jessica, between the first and second movies, if you wanna get technical. I still do not own National Treasure. However, the character of Katie, Riley's niece, is based directly off of myself, only I am obviously not five years old. No rude reviews, though I do always appreciate your feedback.

I'll be the first to admit it: I'm a big kid. Well, a big kid that's obscenely good with computers, that is. I guess that's why my little five-year-old niece, Katie, loves me so much. The two of us are so close that she doesn't even call me "uncle" anymore - just Riley. So, when I found out that her parents, my brother Taylor and his wife Bethany, had gotten tickets to some crazy play or something, I immediately volunteered to watch Katie. She was already a pro at sleeping over here - I had even bought her a _Bindi the Jungle Girl _sleeping bag that I kept in the hall closet for her to use the next time she came - so Taylor and Bethany agreed quickly.

That's why, on a rainy Friday night in October, I was sitting at home when the doorbell rang. I raced over and threw the door open.

"_Riley!_" Katie shrieked, in that tone that probably only little girls of five are capable of making. You know, that one that's a few octaves higher than the average speaking voice?

"Hey, you little tiger!" I said, and opened my arms. Katie broke free from Taylor and charged into them, and I lifted her up, gave her an enormous hug, and spun her around. Katie and I have always had a "Jesse and Michelle" kind of thing going for us. (Yes, I watch _Full House _reruns. What's it to you?)

"Thanks so much for doing this, Riley," Bethany said.  
"It's nice to get out of the house for a while," added Taylor.

"Hey, no problem," I said, holding Katie. "We're gonna have a blast. Right, Kate-a-saurus?"

Katie giggled and gave a thumbs-up. "You got it, dude!"

Taylor and Bethany smiled and kissed Katie. "Be good, angel," Bethany said. "Don't have too much fun," Taylor added.

"We won't," I laughed.

Bethany and Taylor left. I set Katie down.

"What's up, Kate?" I asked as she sat down on the couch. I walked into the kitchen, cut two huge slices of double-chocolate-chip cake, carried them back to the living room, and gave one to her.

Katie beamed. "Thanks, Riley," she said with an ear-to-ear grin. "Well, I started kindergarten last month!"

"Naw! Really?! My little tiger's in _school _now??" I asked enthusiastically.

She giggled. "Yup, I am," she said, between forkfuls of cake. "It's so cool! My school is huge, it goes up to the sixth grade, and my class has 20 students. 11 girls, 9 boys!"

"Only nine boys?" I joked. "That must be hard."

"Nah," she said with a giggle. "You're the only boy I know that doesn't have cooties!"

I smiled. "I am?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "And I already got a best friend. Her name is Brooke, and she's so cool. Her daddy's a centaur or somethin'."

I laughed. "A senator. He works in the big building with the dome."

"Yeah, that."

"You don't like her more than me, now do ya, tiger?" I asked playfully, nudging her under the chin.

Katie giggled again. "Riley, you're always gonna be my bestest buddy in the whole world."

"I'm glad to hear that," I said. "Hey, I got an idea. You want some pizza?"

Katie nodded vigorously.

"Still like hamburger and pepperoni best?"

Another nod. I picked up the phone on the endtable and hit the 5 button - the speed dial to the pizza place.

"Pizza Castle."

"Yeah, hi. I'd like two large pizzas with pepperoni and hamburger. Delivered to Riley Poole," I said, then gave him the address.

"Got it. We'll be there in about a half-hour."

"Thanks."

I put down the phone. "Pizza's on its way," I said to Katie.

"Awesome!" she exclaimed. "I always have so much fun here!"

"Hey, I got ya something," I said to her.

"Really?!"

"Yeah! Stay here, I'll be right back."

I ran to the hall closet and pulled out the Bindi sleeping bag. "Close your eyes," I called down the hall, then walked into the living room and placed it in front of her. "Okay, open 'em," I said.

Katie's eyes grew huge. "A Bindi sleeping bag! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"You're welcome, tiger," I said, giving her a hug.

She ripped open the plastic (with some difficulty, I had to help her) and unfurled the sleeping bag. On it was a picture of Bindi's treehouse from the show, and there were quite a few animals: a koala, an elephant, a snake, an iguana, and a kangaroo.

"This is the best!" Katie exclaimed. She climbed into the sleeping bag to see how she fit. She looked adorable.

"Are you the princess of the animal world now, like Bindi?" I asked her.

Katie giggled and began to sing.

"Once upon a time, deep in the jungle,  
There was a girl who lived in a tree,  
That's why they called her...  
(I joined in.)  
Way-o, way-o, Bindi the jungle girl!  
Way-o, way-o, princess of the animal world, uh-huh!  
The Croc Hunter taught her,  
Now his only daughter  
Is Bindi the jungle girl!  
Bindi!!"

We burst into laughter. The only reason that I know all the words to that song is due to Katie. She sings Bindi's songs from the show all the time, and that's why I'd bought her the sleeping bag.

AN: Sorry if it's kinda a cliffhanger, but I'm zonked. I'll write more later, okay? Please read and review!


	2. What Time is It?

AN: As you know, I don't own National Treasure, or Riley (unfortunately). Katie, however, is my own creation. You know the drill, obviously, but I put this disclaimer so Disney doesn't sue me.

Katie, now in her favorite _Camp Rock _pajamas, had flicked on the TV and was flipping channels. "What are ya looking for, tiger?" I asked her.

"What channel is Discovery Kids again?"

"One hundred thirty," I told her with a smile. She pressed 1-3-0 on the TV remote, and on popped Bindi Irwin herself. "Yay, it is on!" Katie squealed, and clambered up onto my lap.

"Wanna hear a joke?" I asked her.

"OK!"

"How do you tell which end of a worm is the head?"

Katie shrugged.

"Tickle the middle, and see which end laughs!" With that, I tickled her and she giggled. Just then, the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here," I told Katie. She broke into an enormous smile. "Awesome!!"

I opened the door, took the pizzas, paid the guy, and he left.

"Riley, you got 'em?" Katie asked me.

I set the pizzas down on the coffee table and opened the top box. There it was, fresh, hot pepperoni and hamburger pizza. Mine and Katie's absolute favorite. We inhaled.

"This smells _great_," Katie giggled.

"'Course it does," I said to her, tweaking her nose. "It's pizza. The fact that pizza smells great is pretty much the law."

Katie smiled and took a bite of the slice she was holding. "It's so _hot!_" she yelled, hyperventilating.

I gave her a can of Diet Coke. "Drink this, tiger," I said to her. "It'll cool your throat down."

She took a sip. "Ahhhhhh," she sighed. "Thanks, Riley." She gave me a kiss.

I smiled. "You're welcome, tiger," I said. "Just blow on the pizza before ya bite into it next time, 'kay?"

"OK," she said, putting the slice down on a paper plate. "Riley?"

"Mmm?"

"Can we watch a movie?"

"Of course, tiger. You know where I keep your movies. Why don't you take a look?"

Katie jumped up from her spot and went over to the left-hand cabinet in my entertainment center - the cabinet where I keep all the kid movies that Katie loves. Sometimes I even watch them when she's not around. Call me immature if you must.

"Hmmm..._Full House_, seasons one, two, three, and five,_Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds_...ah! I got one," she said excitedly, pulling out a DVD. It was _High School Musical 2._

I smiled. "I guess you want fabulous," I teased. "_She needs a little fabulous, is that so wrong?!_"

Katie cracked up. "Sorry, Riley, you don't sound like Ryan at all," she said between giggles.

"How about Chad?" I asked her.

"Nope."

"Troy?"

Katie looked at me as if I were crazy.

"I guess that's a no," I laughed.

"Yeah, it is," Katie giggled. "I'm just gonna put in the movie."

I still find it mind-blowing that a five-year-old knows exactly how to work a DVD player. The Information Age is weird, but not that I'm complaining, I've helped Ben out of some pretty stinkin' tight spots with the crud they've got on the market now.

A few minutes later, East High School popped onto the screen. Seeing this was all reflex to me now - the hallways, the red wildcat paintings, the stage. I poked Katie. "Don't try to sing with a mouthful of pizza," I told her.

She was chewing on her pizza, but managed to let loose a giggle. Swallowing, she shook her head and said, "I won't." Then, in perfect sync with the characters, she began to chant, "Summer. Summer. Summer. Summer. Summer."

When she (and the people on-screen) began to sing "What Time is It?" I couldn't resist. I began to sing along too.

"_What time is it? Summer time!  
It's our vacation!  
What time is it? Party time!  
That's right, sing it loud!  
What time is it? Time of our lives!  
Anticipation!  
What time is it? Summer time!  
School's out, scream and shout!_"

Setting aside the fact that I'm a man in my late twenties and know all the words to every _High School Musical _song, I just plunged into it. Katie looked delighted by the fact that there was at least one grown-up (and I use that term loosely) that could watch it with her without dying.

AN: Sorry about the shortness - I get writers' block kinda easily and this was all I could think up right now. _High School Musical _is the sole property of Disney and I claim no ownership. Please read and review!


	3. Firefly Darkness

AN: As always, I do not own National Treasure. Katie is mine. Any shows, movies, or music mentioned in the text aren't mine either, and are the property of their assorted owners. R/R.

"_Everybody, all for one!  
Our real summer has just begun!  
Let's rock n' roll, and just let go  
Feel the rhythm of the drums!  
We're gonna have fun in the sun  
Now that all the hard work, work is done!  
Everybody, one for all  
And all for one!_"

If you know anything about Disney Channel, you'd realize that Katie and I were belting out "All for One," the last song in _High School Musical 2._ Katie sighed contentedly as the song ended.

"That was so cool," she gushed.

"Yeah, it was," I agreed, giving her a hug. "What do you wanna do now, tiger?"

Katie thought for a few minutes. She moved her head side to side, her pigtails flopping around. Then she beamed, which I knew meant that she had an idea that she would adore.

"You'll never catch me," she laughed, and bolted.

"Oh yeah, well you just watch," I teased, and took off after her. Even though Katie's only five years old, she's pretty fast. I knew this due to the fact that we play this game - for some reason, Katie had decided to call it Grok (she had named the game when she was two) - almost every time we see each other.

Giggling madly, Katie ran a pretty complicated trail. She crawled under tables, wove around furniture, and even slid down the banister after leading me upstairs. Katie has always made it uber-hard for me to catch her. But, finally, I nabbed her back in the living room, and she started giggling again.

"What're you laughing at?" I joked.

"Shouldn't I laugh?" she asked between giggles. "You're gonna tickle me anyway."

"Never crossed my mind," I laughed. "But now that you mention it..." I began to make stupid noises - like a high-pitched jackhammer or something, y'know, "brrrrrbrrrrrrrbr" - and tickled Katie's belly. Katie, being five, started squirming around like a worm or something and letting out giggles that, again, are probably a few octaves higher than any person not in a single-digit age could not pull off.

"Rile-e-e-e-e-eyyyy!"

"Tickle tickle," I said to her, evoking more giggles.

This continued for about two minutes, until Katie began to gasp for air. At that point, I stopped tickling her, got up onto the couch, and she sat on my lap. We were quiet for about thirty seconds, then Katie broke the silence.

"Riley, what was that song about the fireflies that you used to sing?"

I smiled, remembering. A couple years before, when Katie was three, there was only one song that could calm Katie down at all - a song I had done in my high school choir called "Come In Through the Firefly Darkness." If Katie was crying, or wouldn't get to sleep, all I did was sing that song and she would be fine.

"'Come In Through the Firefly Darkness'?" I asked her.

Katie smiled. "Yeah, that," she said. "How did it go again?"

Even though Ben has repeatedly told me that my singing voice is comparable to claws on a chalkboard, I couldn't say no to my little niece. I cleared my throat.

"_Open up your door, my friend,  
and let me come in,  
come in from the firefly darkness  
to hear your stories again.  
I have wandered through this land  
from end to end,  
I've come home through the firefly darkness  
to sing with you again._"

Katie's eyes grew and grew, and so did her smile. "I was trying to 'member that song the other day, 'cause I was tellin' Brooke about you. She wanted to know what the firefly song goed like, so I said I'd ask you."

The innocence of that phrase, and the five-year-old mispronunciations, made me break into a big smile. My niece meant everything to me. I had no girlfriend and my only job was hacking into random places. Katie was a source of joy in my world, representing my youthful side. Well, it's not really a side, per se, because I'm pretty much a kid trapped in a grown man's body.

Just then, I heard a little snore. Katie had fallen asleep. _The song still has it_, I thought to myself. I settled her into her Bindi sleeping bag, gave her a little pink stuffed dog that she'd named after me, and she slept on.

AN: The rest of this story is going to be the day following this, when she wakes up. Please R/R.


	4. Tigers

AN: I don't own National Treasure. Katie is mine. Any shows or other media mentioned in the text are not mine. R/R.

The next morning, Katie woke up before I did. I don't have a clue as to what's up with the internal clock of a five-year-old; it's just completely out there. At nine A.M., she raced into my room and began jumping on my bed. I woke up instantly.

"Slow down, tiger," I told her.

"Riley! Riley! SpongeBob's on!!" she laughed.

"SpongeBob already?" I asked, sitting up in bed. "You sure it's nine o'clock?"

Katie nodded and grinned.

I checked the clock. Sure enough, it was 8:59. "You win, tiger," I said, and kissed her forehead. With a giggle, she darted downstairs and I followed. The TV was already turned to Nickelodeon, and Katie's Bindi sleeping bag was spread out on the living room floor.

"Hey, tiger, you want some chocolate chip pancakes?" I asked Katie. She nodded vigorously. Upon checking the fridge, I realized that I already had a pre-made thing of pancake mix. I took that and a enormous bag of chocolate chips, dumped the entire bag into the batter, and stirred until it was certain that there was way more chocolate than batter.

As the pancakes cooked and later were consumed, Katie sat on my lap and we watched SpongeBob. The second episode turned out to be our favorite - _Sing a Song of Patrick_. By the end, the two of us had eaten three pancakes each - not necessarily our own - and were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

It took almost the entire commercial break for the two of us to stop laughing, but when we finally did, I asked Katie if she wanted to stick around for iCarly. She told me that she did.

It must have been Katie's lucky day - the episode of iCarly that was on, _iWant a World Record_, was one of her absolute favorites. I had been with her when she had first seen the episode, and because of it, she desperately wanted to set a world record. I'd told her after a couple failed attempts at different records that she had already set a major one in the Riley Poole Book of World Records, and that was being the world's most awesome niece. Then I'd given her a hug that pretty much squeezed the living daylights out of her. She had really adored that.

Now, I looked at the five-year-old on my lap, lightly tweaked one of her long blonde pigtails, and said, "You're still the world's most awesome niece, tiger."

She giggled. "You'll always be the coolest uncle ever," she told me. "I love you, Riley."

"I love you to Pluto and back," I told her, smiling.

Katie's eyes grew wide. "All the way to Pluto?" she gasped.

"And back," I answered.

Katie beamed and threw her arms around me. Then she said, "I had to write a thingy at school, on my favoritest person. You wanna hear it?"

"Who'd you write about? Bindi?" I joked.

She laughed, shook her head, and began digging in her little Wizards of Waverly Place backpack. I recognized it as one I'd bought her for her first day of school. Soon, Katie produced a piece of that classic kindergarten paper, and with a smile, she began to read.

"Riley Poole is my favoritest person ever. Riley is my uncle, and he is the bestest uncle in the whole world. I see Riley all the time, and love everything that we do together. He listens to me and he teaches me so much. But best of all, he's so much fun. Riley gets to go out and look for awesome treasure with Ben Gates. He gives the most awesomest hugs and he takes me to all sorts of great places. One thing I really really really love about Riley is that he is the very bestest tickle monster in the whole wide world. When I get big, I wanna look for treasure and write books, just like Riley. I love Riley so much and I love being with him. Riley rocks!"

Attached to this was a crayon drawing of two stick figures. One was wearing a pink dress and had blonde hair, and the other had brown hair and was wearing jeans, a blue shirt, and what looked to me like Converse. They both had enormous smiles. I took these stick people to be myself and Katie.

I grinned widely and opened my arms. "Gimme a tiger hug, you," I said. Katie lit up (if it was even possible for her face to be lit up more than it already was) and charged into my arms, and I proceeded to give her the biggest and best hug that I have ever given anyone in my life.

"Who's my little tiger?" I asked her.

"I'm your little tiger!" Katie shouted.

"Katie's a tiger, she's Riley's little tiger," I chorused, evoking hysterical giggling from Katie.

"So I'm the very bestest tickle monster in the whole wide world?" I teased.

Katie nodded, still giggling.

I put my finger to my chin. "Hmm," I said. "I wonder if tigers are ticklish."

Katie continue to giggle madly. She definitely knew what was coming, but she wasn't about to escape. Katie may be only five, but believe me, she's got the brain of a Harvard graduate. I wiggled my fingers in Katie's direction and she pretended to recoil.

"This must be one ticklish tiger," I said to her, and with that, I began to tickle her stomach.

Boy, for a little kid, that girl sure can laugh. It started out with little giggles, but rapidly progressed into full-circle, all-out belly laughs. She kicked (not much, though) and squirmed around. "Ril-hee-hee-hee! Ril-hee-hee-heeee!"

"Still the best tickle monster?" I asked her as she giggled.

"Yes!! He-he-he-he-heeeee!"

After a few minutes, I finally let up. I was the one that got tired, not her. When I let up, I picked up her little paper on me as she wriggled around on the floor, still laughing. For a kid, it was pretty darn good. It was riddled with the usual five-year-old mistakes - spelling, grammar, whatever - but in my eyes it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever read.

"Can I keep this?" I asked Katie once she stopped laughing.

Katie nodded. "I brought it for you to keep it."

I went over to the fridge, found a magnet - Independence Hall - and stuck Katie's thing up. She beamed.

"Thanks, tiger," I said, kissing her forehead.

Katie enveloped me in a huge hug. "You're welcome, big tiger."

AN: Some of the aspects of Katie's "essay" are from the real Bindi Irwin's memorial speech for her dad. If you would like to hear the whole thing, it's on YouTube. Please review!!


	5. When Katie Was Born

AN: National Treasure = not mine. Riley = not mine. Katie = mine. Any other forms of media = not mine. R/R.

It was still Saturday morning, but now Katie was happily clad in a pair of denim shorts and a red cap-sleeve T-shirt with a lizard on the left shoulder. Katie's love of Bindi had stretched even to her clothes - the lizard shirt was a piece from the eco-friendly "Bindi Wear" clothing line, designed by Bindi Sue Irwin herself.

"Hey, tiger, there's a lizard on your shoulder," I remarked.

Katie looked at her left shoulder and smiled. "Its name is Peru," she announced.

"But the real Peru is an iguana," I said. (The real Peru lives in Bindi's treehouse with her on the show.)

She shrugged. "It's a reptile," she finally decided. "So it works."

I laughed. "OK, down to business. What do you want to do today, tiger?"

Katie scrunched up her face and thought. After a few moments, she blinked a few times and grinned. I could almost see the light bulb above her head.

"The Chuck," she said. That's what she and I call Chuck E. Cheese. It's one of my favorite places to take her.

I lifted her up into my arms. "Chuck it is," I said, playfully nudging under her chin. "Only the best for my little tiger." Katie giggled.

It dawned on me that my Ferrari only had front seats - no back. _I could have bought a better one, if I hadn't been stuck with one crazy percent, _I thought. We were going to have to take the billion-year-old sedan thing. I hadn't used it since before we went to northern Canada to find the _Charlotte._ I used to drive it to my awful windowless cubicle every day.

"We're taking the old car, tiger," I said to Katie. She nodded her approval.

With that, I carried her out to the garage and put her in this crazy car seat that only she uses. Then I got into the car myself. "Let's roll," Katie said with an ear-to-ear grin.

I started up the car, and off we went.

* * *

We were somewhere on the Beltway when Katie asked me, "Riley, where were you when I was born?"

I smiled. I knew that this was, and still is, Katie's favorite story, other than the one about Charles Carroll and Thomas Gates, and how Ben and I found the Templar treasure. "June 15, 2003," I remembered. "Boy, there's something I'll never forget."

Katie listened intently.

"The phone rang at my house at 11:45 pm, June 14. It was Taylor, your daddy. He was freaking out, and he said, 'Bethany's having the kid.' Then I started freaking out, too, and told him that I'd meet him at the hospital. So I drove really fast into the city, and I got there at the same time that your mommy and daddy did. The doctors took them away and told me to wait until your daddy came out again."

"How long did you wait, Riley?" asked Katie. She was obviously digging this.

"I got there at midnight, and you were born at 5:56 am," I told her. "Almost six hours."

Katie gasped. "Whoa."

I smiled. "So, almost six hours later, at 5:57, a minute after you were born, your daddy finally walked into the waiting room, and he said, 'It's a little girl! Kaitlyn Jessica Poole, known as Katie.' He was so happy, he was crying."

"When did you first see me?" Katie asked happily.

"There was this room in the hospital where they put all the babies," I told her. "There was a big window so you could see inside. Your daddy pointed to a little girl in the middle and said, 'That's our Katie.' He swears to this day that when you first saw me in that hospital, you smiled. But usually, when newborns look like they're smiling, it's actually just gas."

Katie giggled.

"I know, right? But your daddy still tells me, even today, that it was a real, live smile."

"I loved you from the beginning, I guess," laughed Katie.

_That _was cute. That was really cute. I reached one hand into the back seat and tickled Katie's toes. She giggled hysterically.

"I loved you from the beginning," I told her. With that, we pulled into the Chuck E. Cheese parking lot. Katie let loose an excited squeal, which made me laugh.

"Let's do this thing," I said as I unstrapped Katie from her car seat.

AN: Please review!!


	6. At The Chuck's

AN: You know the drill. Please review.

I picked Katie up. "Time for the Chuck," I said to her. She grinned widely.

We walked in, checked in, and found a table, and then it was crazy time. I made a beeline for the Skee-Ball machine. Katie followed, in a fit of the giggles. "Watch Master Riley at work," I quipped, tapping Katie's nose. "OK," she laughed.

I threw ball one. Five points.

"OK, I can do better."

Ball two. One point.

"That's not better."

Ball three. One point.

"Grrrrr!!!!"

Ball four. Ten points.

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Ball five. One point.

"Aw, come ON!!!"

Katie looked sympathetic. "Let me try," she said, and put in a token. The five balls appeared again. She picked one up and threw it. 100 points.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

Ball two. 100 points.

I was stunned silent.

Ball three. 100 points.

My eyes bugged.

Ball four. 100 points.

Ball five. 250 points.

"How did you _do _that, tiger?" I asked Katie as the machine spit out more tickets than I had ever seen in my life. Katie shrugged. It was amazing; I had been beaten in Skee-Ball by my five-year-old niece. This kid was _good_.

Katie collected her tickets and I picked her up and hugged her.

"Wanna play air hockey, Riley?" she asked me.

"Are you gonna beat me again?" I asked, tickling her toes yet again.

Katie broke up into giggles. "Maybe," she teased.

I agreed to play. And Katie ended up beating me - 390 to 10. It was brutal. A five-year-old girl could beat Riley Joseph Poole at arcade games. Then again, I had taught Katie all she knows about the games. She just took the ball and ran with it.

"Sorry, Riley," Katie said, trying to hold back her laughter. But she couldn't contain herself, and burst out laughing. She couldn't stop. She laughed while eating her pizza. She laughed while playing in the colored-ball pool thing. She laughed in that crazy plastic trail thing suspended from the ceiling. She laughed at the video games. She even laughed when I beat her in Pac-Man, the only time I beat her in anything that day. And don't think that these were separate laughing fits, either. This was a constant, uninterrupted laughing fit. And whenever Katie laughed, I couldn't help but split my sides laughing as well. We were having the best time ever.

I picked Katie up and tossed her into the air, which she adores. Her little pigtails (with pink bows, of course) flew up and down with each gentle throw. It's times like this that I fully realize why Katie and I are so close. Five-year-olds don't know about war or hatred. They go to Chuck E. Cheese, eat the cream filling out of Oreos, watch Disney movies, wear clashing clothes without a care in the world, and enjoy basically every aspect of their existence. And Katie - well, let's just say she's all this and more. Katie is the quintessential five-year-old.

* * *

As we drove home later, Katie asked me why I call her my little tiger. I smiled.

"When you were tiny, my Calvin & Hobbes shirt was one of the first things you learned to recognize," I told her. "And your favorite book was this little thing called _So Happy. _On one page was a picture of a tiger being tickled. And ever since you were a baby, you've loved it when I tickle you. So, that's why you're my little tiger."

Katie beamed. "I love being your little tiger, Riley. Tigers are awesome."

I smiled. "Like Prince Rajah," I said, referencing one of Bindi's songs.

"_He's got one concern,  
He never really learned how to  
Jump in water,  
Leap in long grass,  
Like a tiger should!  
Bounce with buffalo,  
Bounce with butterflies,  
Like he wishes he could!  
In fact, it's quite bizarre!  
You're really not a tiger star, Prince Rajah__!_"

As Katie finished her song, I smiled. "That's the tiger I know," I said. "Katie the tiger."

Katie grinned. "I'm really a tiger," she said approvingly.

AN: Yes, I knew the Bindi song by heart. Please review!


End file.
